Before I retired I worked for a company where I "interacted" with many customers/people. I was told to wish "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas for fear of offending someone...

Now that I'm retired and can whatever I want whenever I want... no bosses now other than SWMBO....

I want everyone here to have a wonderful and Merry Christmas.

Here is a wonderful Christmas Story for all to enjoy... it, for me, shows that Christmas is not a time for presents and commercialism. It's a time to show love and compassion for your fellow man.....

The best Christmas Story I have ever read.The Gas Station

The old man sat inhis gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in yearssince his wife had passed away. He had no decorations, no tree, nolights. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas,just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. There were no children in hislife. His wife had gone. He was sitting there looking at the snowthat had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was allabout when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.Instead of throwing the man out, George, "Old George" as he wasknown by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the space heaterand warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," saidthe stranger. "I see you're busy. I'll just go" "Not withoutsomething hot in your belly," George turned and opened a wide mouththermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hotand tasty. Stew. Made it myself. When you're done there'scoffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of thedriveway bell. "Excuse me be right back," George said. There, in thedriveway, was an old 53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. Thedriver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with adeep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken." Georgeopened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold; thecar was dead. "You ain't going in this thing," George said, as he turnedaway. "But, mister please help." The door of the office closedbehind George as he went in. George went to the office wall and gotthe keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around thebuilding and opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around towhere the couple was waiting. "Here! , take my truck," he said. "She ain'tthe best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good." Georgehelped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into thenight. George turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave'em the truck. Their tires were shot, too. That 'ol truck has brandnew ..." George thought he was talking to the stranger. But, the man hadgone. The thermos was on the desk, empty with a used coffee cup beside it.

"Well, at least he got something in his belly," Georgethought. George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. Itcranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where thetruck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do.Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the block hadn't crackedit was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fixthis," he said to himself. So, he put a new one on. "Thosetires ain't! gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snowtreads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and hewasn't going to drive the car.

As he was working, he heard shotsbeing fired. He ran outside and, beside a police car, an officer layon the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned,"Help me." George helped the officer inside as he remembered thetraining he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound neededattention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniformcompany had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. Heused those and ducttape to bind the wound. "Hey, they sayduct tape can fix anything," he said, trying to make the policeman feel atease. "Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills heused for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup andgave the policeman the pills.

"You hang in there. I'm going to getyou an ambulance." The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of yourbuddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to findthat a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks,"said the officer. "You could have left me there.The guy that shot meis still in the area." George sat down beside him. "I would never leave aninjured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulledback the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is.Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuffthough. I think, with time, you're gonna be right as rain."George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" heasked. "None for me," said the officer. "Oh, yer gonna drink this.Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." Theofficer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. Inburst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it, now!"the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George couldtell that he had never done anything like this before."That's the guythat shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are youdoing this?" asked George. "You need to put the gun away.Somebody else might get hurt."The young man was confused. "Shutup old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now, give me the cash!" The copwas reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop."We got one too many in here now." He turned his attention to the

young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need the moneywell then here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now, putthat pee shooter away." George pulled $150 out of his pocket andhanded it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the sametime. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees andbegan to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was tobuy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job.My rent is due. My car got repossessed last week."

Georgehanded the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now andthen. The road gets hard sometimes. But, we make it through the bestwe can." He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on achair, across from the cop. "Sometimes, we do stupid things." Georgehanded the young man a cup of coffee. "Being stupid is one of the thingsthat makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer.Now, sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out." The young manhad stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. Itjust went off. I'm sorry officer." "Shut up and drink yourcoffee," the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirensoutside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Twocops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the copsasked the wounded officer. "Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. Howdid you find me?" "GPS locator in the car. Best thing sincesliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approachedthe young man. Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into thedark. Just dropped his gun and ran." George and the young man both lookedpuzzled at each other. "That guy work here?," the wounded cop continued."Yep," George said. "Just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job. Theparamedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The youngman leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?" Chuck just said,"Merry Christmas boy .. and you, too, George, and thanks for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That oughtto solve some of your problems." George went into the back room andcame out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go.Something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind.She said it would come in handy some day." The young man lookedinside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't takethis," said the young man. "It means something to you." "And now itmeans something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That'sall I need." George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car,and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company hadleft for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man ofyours." The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 thatthe old man had handed him earlier. "And what are you supposed to buyChristmas dinner with? You keep that, too," George said. "Now, githome to your family." The young man turned, with tears streaming down hisface. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is stillgood." "Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the dayafter."

George turned around to find that the stranger hadreturned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?" "I havebeen here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don'tcelebrate Christmas. Why?" "Well, after my wife passed away I justcouldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree, and all ,seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to withMartha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was getting a littlechubby." The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder, "But, you docelebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmedme when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a sonand he will become a great doctor. The policeman you helped will goon to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young manwho tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any forhimself. That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good asany man." George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And howdo you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George.I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And, when yourdays are done, you will be with Martha again." The stranger moved towardthe door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go, now. Ihave to go home, where there is a big celebration planned." George watchedas the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearingturned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room."You see, George ... it's my birthday... Merry Christmas."George fell to his knees and replied, "Happy Birthday, Lord."